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PATRIOTISM 

U'JTUOLT 

PABTYISM 



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PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTUS 1 ,!: 



OR, 



AN OBSCURE MAN'S EFFORTS TO 
REDEEM HIS COUNTRY; 



CONSISTING OF 



THOUGHTS AND EEFLEOTIONS 



SUGGESTED FROM TIME TO TIME BY OUR NATIONAL 

TROUBLES; AND ADDRESSED TO THE 

AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



By T. IT. WEBB, 



* SAINT L0DIS: 

OGAN AND VIVIAN, PRINTERS, S. E. COR, SECOND AND LOCUST S 

16 6a. 




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Entered according to Act ot Congress, in the year 1863, by 

T. U. WEBB, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the 

Eastern District of Missouri. 



PREFACE. 



The author of this little book deems that the 
only preface which it needs, is a simple statement 
that the articles comprised in it were written at 
or near the time of their respective dates, and, 
with a few exceptions, were published in some of 
our public journals; — that he believes them to be 
more or less applicable to the present statu of tilings 
in our country ; — that he has never held an office, 
made a political speech, nor been a member of any 
political Convention or Caucus: — and that previous 
to the breaking out of the Rebellion, he was unac- 
customed to writing for the Press. 

Should any one wish to know the author's politics, 
they may be expressed briefly, in the following 
words: The greatest good of the largest number 

In morals, he believes that, The way of the 
transgressor is hard ; that innocence is better than 
repentance; and that to be good, is to be happy. 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTTISM. 



A CALL TO ALL HANDS. 

March 23d, 1861. 

My Fellow Countrymen: — We are in trouble. 
That noble ship, built and bequeathed to us by our 
fathers ; consecrated by their toils, their suffering, 
and their prayers; is nearing the breakers. I hear 
the roar, and see the foam, of the billows. There 
is a mutiny on board. Our gallant Commander is 
about to make an attempt to restore order among 
the crew, and save the ship. 

Let us lay aside all party feeling, and rally to his 
support. Without our united aid and sympathy to 
sustain him, and give strength to his arm, his efforts 
will be fruitless. The ship will go down, carrying 
us with it, into the abyss of irretrievable ruin. 

Let us forget we were ever Republicans or Demo 
crats, and fly to the rescue. Is not the object 
worthy of the sacrifice ? 



6 PATRIOTISM W1THOTTT PARTTT6M. 

LOYE OF COUNTRY versus LOYE OF 
PARTY. 

To the Editor of The N. Y. Tribune. 

Illinois, April 2d, 1861. 

Sir : The rancor and malignity exhibited in our 
political discussions for some years past, together 
with the critical condition in which we are now 
placed, have convinced me that it is extremely det- 
rimental to the welfare of our people and the suc- 
cessful working of our system of government, to 
form political parties upon principles which bring 
into direct antagonism two interests so vital and 
dear as the Freedom of Conscience and the Right of 
Property. 

Will you oblige a sincere lover of his country, 
and a devoted Republican, by publishing the above, 
with any comments which you may see fit to make. 
Yours truly, 

T. TJ. Webb. 



REPLY. 

My De,yr Sir : You have started rather a good 
idea — one very fruitful in its development. In order 
to give it logical scope, we must further stipulate 
that, whenever two nations engage in war, they 
shall use cornstalk swords, and never fire balls made 
of any harder substance than hasty pudding — that 
no man who " pitches into " one who has offended him 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM:. 

shall do so till he has first covered his fists at least 
a foot deep with light cotton batting — that any one 
who gets the better of his neighbor in a bargain 
shall be careful not to make more than live dollars 
out of him — that no lady meditating matrimony 
shall understate her age beyond the term of twenty- 
four calendar months — and various kindred safe- 
guards against evil consequences, whereof the mere 
mention would fatigue the general reader. 

Knowest thou not, O, Webb! that this, into which 
we have been precipitated, is a right earnest world, 
wherein we must battle with obstacles as we meet 
them, hardly finding opportunity to boil the peas that 
from time to time drop into our boots, much less 
making asses of ourselves by insisting that all peas 
shall be grown ready boiled? For Nature has other 
ways of her own, and is quite as stubborn with 
regard to them as we are, being at the same time a 
trifle the stronger. 

Parties do not make nor choose the political or 
other topics whereon mankind shall from time to 
time be arrayed in antagonism to each o.her — these 
grow irresistibly out of the progress of our race 
— or rathei-, they are divine instrumentalities looking 
to the gravest and most benignant ends. Many an 
honest, good-hearted Tory in our Revolutionary age 
n there wen' as good men on, the Tory side as 
on the other) thought it a great mistake that people 
did not go on righting Indians, clearing up forests, 
catching fish and growing tobacco as of old, and let 



5 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

the King and Ministry govern as they thought best. 
They would have dearly liked some regulation 
whereby everybody should be constrained to pay 
whatever taxes Parliament might see fit to impose, 
and make no fuss about it — but you see that could 
not be. 

You cannot frame a tariff, nor build a Pacific 
Railroad, nor (through the action of Congress) 
improve a River, nor clear out a Harbor, nor do 
anything else of the least moment, that does not 
seriously affect private interests, and so interfere, 
in some measure, with the Rights of Property. If 
you undertake, by regulating the sale of intoxicating 
liquors, to check by law the ravages of Drunken- 
ness, you conflict materially with what are called 
Rights of Property ; if you insist that loafers shall 
not play ball too noisily under church windows 
during Sabbath services, you are held to interfere 
with their Rights of Conscience. In short, O, 
Webb! this perverse world, in which you and I find 
ourselves, has not been got up on the principles 
which would have insured to it social tranquillity 
(but I think at grave cost) had you created it, and 
there is no course open to us but to take things as 
they are and try to make the best of them. Which 
is the course earnestly recommended to you by 

Yours, &c, <fcc, 

Ed, Tribune. 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTY1SM, 9 

REJOINDER. 

To the Editor of the X. Y. Tribune : 

Dear Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge 
the receipt of your reply to my communication of 
April 2d. 

You seem to have misconceived the purpose of 
my note, and the spirit in which it was written. I 
was merely trying to pour a little oil on the mad 
waters into which the nation was being plunged ; 
not seeking to make it appear that the Republican 
party was responsible for the trouble that has come 
upon US. 

Were I of that class wmose faith and works are 
the opposite of yours, it would not be difficult for 
me to find in your reply, together with much that 
has appearel in the Tribune of late years, ample 
ground to justify the inference that you have been 
a little more willing to accept, than anxious to avoid, 
a civil war. But I will not judge you so unchar- 
itably. I will ascribe to partisan enmity and political 
prejudice what your enemies have imputed to baser 
motives. 

The compliment you have paid me at the outset 
of your remarks, I can reciprocate without flattery. 
You, likewise, have put forth not only one, but 
several good ideas; and expressed them in a manner 
that fully sustains your reputation. The idea of 
two nations engaged in war, using cornstalk swords, 
and firing: balls made of no harder substance than 



10 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 

hasty pudding, is equal to some of the best in Gul- 
liver's Travels. The allusion to the Tories in our 
Revolutionary age, is another good thought, cleverly 
written out, and will be likely to exert a "healthy " 
influence on some of their descendants, who may 
have inherited the weakness of their forefathers- 
Covering a man's fists a foot deep with light cotton 
batting before he pitches into one who has offended 
him, is so closely allied to the gloves and practice of the 
pugilist that it seems to lack dignity and originality. 

Perhaps the most objectionable passage in your 
reply is that wherein reference is had to a lady 
meditating matrimony, and a man getting the better 
of his neighbor in a bargain. Here you appear to 
have exposed yourself to criticism. Your language 
would seem to imply an elasticity of conscience, a 
sliding scale of morality, which I was not prepared 
to see exhibited by the Editor of the Tribune. If 
a lady meditating matrimony may understate her 
age without violating any of the moral principles 
laid down in the Decalogue, why should she be lim- 
ited to the term of twenty-four calendar months? 
If, by understating her age forty-eight or seventy- 
two calendar months, instead of twenty-four, she 
would thereby be more likely to succeed in attaining 
the object of her desires, why not grant her the 
requisite indulgence? And if she may deceive her 
lover or her betrothed in regard to her age, why 
may she not, with equal propriety and innocence, 
deceive him in other things ? 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. ll 

Again, if a man may get the better of his neigh- 
bor in a bargain without going counter to the 
precepts of Christianity, why should his cupidity 
and shrewdness be restricted to the paltry sum of 
five dollars? Why not let him "make a good tiling 
of it," and get the better of his neighbor — if he 
can — to the amount of ten, fifteen, or twenty 
dollars ; and so on ad libitum f 

An experience of nearly half a century, on this 
mundane sphere, has convinced me that it is in 
truth, a right earnest world. Especially this part 
of it. Here, the great irrepressible conflict is waged 
on a scale, and with a method and constancy, that 
have no parallel in any age or country. Here, the 
wheel of fortune revolves with a rapidity that fre- 
quently turns the brain. He that was down yes- 
terday, may be up to-day ; and he that is up to-day, 
may be down to-morrow. Here, it is push push, 
push along keep moving; and woe unto him that 
is not endowed with good propelling power. Here, 
whoever would make a noise in the world, must 
blow his own trumpet — but whither am I drifting? 

One word about vegetables. If I am not mis- 
informed, you have accumulated a respectable 
quantity of that which enables one to make the 
journey of life with his boots comparatively free 
of hard peas. I do not envy your good fortune. 
You have earned it by a life of industry and tact 
in the practice of your profession, and have a right 
to enjoy it. But had the Rebellion been the means 



12 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

of cutting off your business resources, and reducing 
you and your family to indigent circumstances, per- 
haps you would be better prepared to appreciate 
the condition of those who have experienced a 
similar fate. 

With regard to "making assess of ourselves," 
I have only to say, in conclusion, that if you will 
agree not to make an ass of yourself by needlessly 
increasing the number of hard peas, I will agree 
not to make an ass of myself by insisting that all 
peas shall be grown ready boiled. 

Respecfully yours, 

T. U. Webb. 



THE SOLEMNITY, AND THE NEEDS OF 
THE HOUR. 

June 11th, 1861. 
A few weeks ago, the commercial metropolis of 
our country was visited by a young man in the 
bloom and vigor of manhood ; of uncommonly pre- 
possessing personal appearance, and the idol of a 
large circle of friends. The purpose of his visit 
was to enlist a military company ; to aid in pro- 
tecting our Government, and defending the city of 
Washington; the inhabitants of which, he said, 
were placed upon a volcano. 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 13 

Having organized his regiment, the young man 
returned with it to Washington, and fell a martyr 
to his country's cause, and to his own self-sacri- 
ficing devotion to that cause. His body sleeps the 
sleep of death. His spirit has doubtless gone to 
commune with the spirits of the men who fell at 
Bunker Hill. 

This whole Nation is now placed upon a volcano ; 
which has been giving out all the premonitory 
tokens of an extensive and overwhelming eruption. 
True, there is at this moment a comparative lull in 
the war of elements ; but it is the calm that fore- 
runs the convulsion ; the stillness which precedes 
the last struggle of expiring nature. 

Such being our condition, can we not be better 
employed than wrangling about who shall .have the 
place made vacant by the untimely decease of the 
lamented Douglas, and contending about who shall 
be Speaker of the next Congress? Are we so 
accustomed to acting the part of political gladiators 
that we must needs continue our petty quarrels 
while the Nation is bleeding at every pore, and 
writhing in the agony of attempted suicide ? Is 
this the part of wise men and patriots? Are we 
proving ourselves worthy custodians of a political 
heritage fraught with so many blessings, an4 pur- 
chased at the expense of so much precious blood 
and treasure ? 

Shade of Washington, of Warren, of Hancock, 



14 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 

of Adam?, of Jefferson, of Jackson, of Webster, 
and of Cla} T ! come back and awaken your country- 
men to a just sense of their danger and their duty ! 



A BRIEF POLITICAL SERMON. 

June 16th, 1861. 

When Nations become degenerate and corrupt, 
like individuals, they need to be regenerated or 
born again. If a man wax fat, and kick, he requires 
chastening. Nothing does this more effectually 
than a few lessons in the school of adversity. 
This People having waxed fat, and kicked, are 
being chastened. They are in the furnace of 
affliction ; and ere long, I trust, will be on the stool 
of repentance ; when we may look for reformation. 

The germ of the disease, which has at length 
reached the vitals of the Nation, was implanted in 
our system. It has grown with our growth, and 
strengthened with our strength, until the antago- 
nism has become so deadly there must be a life- 
and-death struggle between us and the disease. 

Our Constitution being good, I trust we shall 
outlive the malady, and be born again. 

I hope, and fervently pray, that one of the first 
effects of the new birth may be a purification of 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 15 

the " pool of polities ; " so that honest men and 
christians may " dabble " in it, if they choose, 
without getting- "dirty." 

For many years we have been more or less the 
tools and prey of political gamblers; who have made 
the Government and its emoluments the stake for 
which they have played. Hence, those who could 
not take part in the gambling, have had but a small 
share of the winnings. 

But I trust a new era will yet dawn upon us; 
when the people, after being sufficiently ground 
between the upper and the net her millstone, will 
see and feel the necessity of employing men to 
wield the machinery of government who have 
some higher aim than a mere desire to enjoy the 
" spoils,' 1 and be "dressed in a little brief authority." 
God speed the day ! 



A SUGGESTION TO SLAVEHOLDIXG 

SECESSIONISTS. 

June 30th, 1861. 
To ihe Editor of the Charleston Mcrcvry. 

Dear Sir : Will you permit me to tell you and 
your readers what I would do if I were a secession- 
ist and a slaveholder? Instead of trying to break 
up this Union and Government, I would go to South 
America, seek some healthful and productive region 
wherein slavery is tolorated, purchase as much land 



16 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTTISM. 

as I had the means to cultivate successfully, remove 
thither with my family and slaves, and try to per- 
suade my secession friends and relatives to do like- 
wise. 



OUR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. 

July 22d, 1861. 
To the Officeholder!, Ojficeseekers, Politicians, and Editors of Poli- 
tical Journals in the United States. 

Gentlemen: The interests and destiny of this 
Nation are measurably in your hands, and under youi 
control. Are you duly sensible of the momentous 
obligations and responsibilities which rest upon you 
at this fearful juncture of our public aff.irs? 

If so, are you endeavoring to meet these obliga- 
tions and responsiblities in a manner befitting their 
solemnity, importance, and magnitude ? 

Heretofore, the battles you have waged have been 
comparatively bloodless ; and although the mode and 
spirit in which you have conducted thQ warfare have 
had a very pernicious influence upon the manners 
and morals of the people, yet their material interests, 
in the aggregate, have suffered no lasting, irrepar- 
able detriment. 

Now, the scene is changed. From a conflict of 
opinion, interest, and passion, we have passed to a 
conflict of arms ; from a war of words, to a war of 
blows ; involving the destruction of human life, and 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTY1SM. 17 

the dearest ties that bind society together. That 
greatest scourge of nations, with its countless evils, 
and untold atrocities, has come upon us. K"o Mexi- 
can or Briton confront us now. Our foes are the 
descendants of men who fought shoulder to shoul- 
der with our fathers, in the great struggle which 
achieved our national independence, and laid the foun- 
dation of the Republic. 

It is our fate to behold what the great American 
Statesman and orator prayed he might not live to 
see. " A once glorious Union broken into dishon- 
ored fragments ; States dissevered, discordant, bellig- 
erent ; a land rent with civil feuds ; and drenched in 
fraternal blood." 

People ! do you realize the vast change in the 
condition of our country, and the consequent neces- 
sity for a change in your habits ? 

Lovers and servers of Party ! let me assure you 
the only party which the country nee Is in this dark 
hour of trial and disaster is a party of pure patriots, 
and upright statesmen. 

Officeholders! while you are enjoying the honors 
and emoluments of your position, large numbers of 
your countrymen are being reduced to bankruptcy and 
ruin. Many a husband and father, who, a few short 
months ago, were in the possession of everything 
essential to the enjoyment of earthly happiness, are 
now passing sleepless nights and anxious days think- 
ing how they may pay their debts, and keep their 
families from poverty and destitution, 



18 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTY1SM. 

Republicans ! bear in mind that the cardinal prin- 
ciple on which you fought your way into power 
implies that you have a higher sense of right and 
wrong than they who opposed you; but do not, I 
adjure you, let the operation of this sense be limited 
to considering the African's wrongs. 

Soldiers! lemember that you live in the nine- 
teenth century of the Christian era ; and that you 
are fighting t^ save the Republic founded by Wash- 
ington, Franklin, Hamilton, and their compeers. 



THE RULING PASSION STOXG IN 
DEATH. 

August 20th, 1861. 

I perceive that many of our people are still 
calling and holding Republican, Democratic and 
Bell-Everett meetings and conventions. 

As an American citizen, deeply interested in 
what is now transpiring in our country, I would 
respectfully ask, For what purpose are these meet- 
ings and conventions being called and held? 

Are we to have Republican, Democratic, and Bell- 
Everett brigades and divisions in our armyf If 
so, I greatly fear the disaster at Bull Ran will 
never be retrieved. In our political battles, ex- 
cepting the last, wherein the people of the South 
were purposely divided, they have generally 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 19 

>eaten us because of their unity, aud our division. 
Shall like cauces produce like results in our military 
>attles ? Are we of that class who will not learn, 
Even in the school of experience? 

The Republic is in the agony of dissolution ; 
icarly half its columns have been wrested from 
heir place; thousands of lives and millions of 
noney have been spent in trying to restore them ; 
r et a portion of our people continue to pull the 
vires and work the machinery of party, as though 
here were nothing to fight for but the " spoils." 
>uly, the ruling passion is strong in death. 

Must we go down with the words Party, Re- 
publican^ Democrat, and Abolitionist, ringing in our 
are ? 



AN APPEAL FOR UNANIMITY. 

December 7th, 1861. 

I desire to address a few thoughts to those who 
rould have the Government emancipate and arm 
he slaves in the revolted States. 

A little more than a year ago, we were passing 
hrougk a violent political conflict ; in which the 
ombatants were divided mainly into two parties, 
espectively styled Republicans and Democrats, 
'he former had published to the world that the 
wading object for which they were contending, was 



20 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PABTYISM. 

to confine Slavery within its present limits ; but 
not to interfere with it where it was already estab- 
lished by virtue of local law. The principal aim 
of the Democratic party seemed to be to oppose 
the Republicans; and among the most effective 
and frequently used weapons employed by them 
for this purpose, was the charge that the Repuli- 
cans were Abolitionists ; and that they wished to 
use the power of the Government to abolish slavery. 
The contest resulted in favor of the Republicans; 
whereupon, a portion of the people residing in the 
slaveholding States openly declared they would not 
submit to a Republican administration of the 
Government ; and immediately set about making 
preparations to cast off their allegiance, and estab- 
lish a separate independent government for them- 
selves. The Chief Executive officer of the Nation 
having constitutional scruples with regard to the 
propriety of interfering in the quarrel, and the 
Democrats of the North continuing to rail at their 
successful rivals, the Revolutionists, meeting with 
no serious resistance, made rapid and fearful head- 
way. So alarming had the state of tilings become 
at the close of the late Administration, that the 
friends of the President elect, fearing he was in 
danger of being assassinated, deemed it prudent to 
call out a strong military force to protect him, and 
preserve order during his Inauguration. 

Thus rapidly were we drifting into the nuelstrom 
of anarchy, when the Nation was electrified with 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 21 

the intelligence that Fort Sumter was being born 
barded. Immediately the dormant patriotism of 
our Democratic brethren in the North " sprang 
into newness of life;" and when our new Com- 
mander called for help to suppress the mutiny, they 
responded nobly to the call. From that day to the 
present they have continued to swell the ranks of 
our army ; to spend and be spent in the defense of 
their country and Government. Of the six hundred 
thousand men now in the field, I presume it is safe 
to conclude that one-half are Democrats ; who, fifteen 
months ago, were bitterly opposed to the immediate 
abolition of slavery ; and to everything tending to 
remove the social and political distinction between 
the two races. Think you these men have so far 
conquered their prejudices as to be willing to fight 
side by side with emancipated slaves, or engage 
heartily in the work of prosecuting the war for the 
abolition of slaver} 7- ? Would it be wise, generous, 
or just, to make them the unwilling instruments to 
Barry out a policy which they have heretofore 
opposed so strongly? 

Countrymen ! ye who make it your vocation to 
cater to the prejudices and appetites of your 
readers and hearers! ye who fan the flames and 
add fuel to the awful conflagration that is consuming 
lis ! ye who trim your sails to catch the breeze of 
every popular clamor ! can you not distinguish be- 
tween a civil war and a political campaign? Is 
your love of gain and your desire for self-aggrand- 



22 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISil. 

izement so strong that you will trifle with the 
destiny of your country in a crisis like this, for the 
sake of a little short-lived popularity, or a few 
dollars and cents? If you would have this fiend- 
ish conflict brought to a speedyj conclusion ; if you 
would not have it protracted until every household 
in the land shall be shrouded in gloom for the loss 
of some one of its loved members; if you would 
not have the people of the two sections worry and 
tear each other until both parties shall be compelled 
to desist, from sheer exhaustion, like two dogs 
equally matched in strength and ferocity ; if you 
would not have them fight until they shall stand 
aghast at the havoc and devastation which their 
own hands have committed; if you would have 
the horrors, the carnage, and desolation of this 
bloody struggle confined to the States in which it 
originated; if you would not' give aid and comfort 
to the foes we are combating; if you would not 
extinguish the last ray of hope in the hearts of 
those noble men who have sundered the ties of 
blood and kindred, and in the midst of treason, 
treachery, and persecution, have clung to the flag 
of their country, and labored so earnestly and 
efficiently in behalf of our cause; I implore you 
in the name of all that is good, great, and sacred, 
to abstain from agitating and discussing those 
questions and subjects which tend to excite divis- 
ion and discord among the friends of the Union. 
We need to be united in thought, feeling, and 
purpose, A portion of those who were once our 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PATTTYISM. 23 

political brethren have determined to pull down 
and destroy the fair fabric reared for us and them 
by our fathers. It is our duty to uphold and pre- 
serve it. Let us go forward in the work with an 
eye single to this great end; and see that we fall 
not out by the way. Let us prosecute the war to 
suppress the Rebellion, and restore the integrity of 
the Republic. If we do this with all our energy 
and resources, be assured, slavery will abolish 
itself quite as fast as we are prepared for it. 

And while we are providing for and disposing of 
the slaves, let us do this in such a manner as will 
meet the approval of our own conscience, and 
least conflict with the prejudice of those who were 
once our political opponents, but now helping us 
fight the battles of our country. 

Finally, let us remember that we are engaged in 
a war in which fathers are fighting against sons, 
sons against fathers, and brothers against brothers; 
that human nature and human passions are pretty 
much the same now as they were in the days of 
Robespierre, Danton, and Marat. 



24 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

THE PRESIDENT'S INJUNCTION OBEYED. 

January 30th, 1862. 

In obedience to the injunction of our President, 
in his Inaugural Address, I, as one of his country- 
men, have endeavored to "think calmly and well 
on the whole subject" of our national troubles — 
their causes and consequences. My reflections, with 
my reading, observation, and experience, have im- 
pressed me with the conviction that one of the 
greatest blessings which the Almighty could confer 
upon this nation at the present time, would be to 
take from us and our foes every dollar of money 
which we and they 'possess, and deprive us and 
them of all power to make or get more for a third 
of a century. 

This would place us in a condition which, in 
my judgment, would be most favorable to a 
speedy reconcilement of our differences, and a re- 
turn to peace and happiness. 



REASONS FOR NOT BEING IN FAYOR OF 
ABOLISHING SLAYERY BY MILITARY 
POWER. 

February loth, 1862. 
Having done what I could, in my humble way, 
to promote the success and sustain the credit of 
the Republican party, from its inception up to the 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PABTYISM. 25 

present, I wish to state my reasons for declining to 
co-operate with that wing of the party which is 
apparently seeking to make the extinction of sla- 
very the paramount object of the war, on the part 
of the Government. 

I. It would be likely to drive from us all our 
(white) friends in the revolted States, and nearly 
half of those in the loyal States. 

II. It would place us in great danger of having 
the seat of war transferred from the slaveholding 
to the free States. 

III. It would be likely to plunge us into a state 
of anarchy, such as the world has never seen; from 
which we could be relieved only by a military 
Despotism. 

IV. It would make fighting the chief business 
of the nation. 

V. It would make us an easy prey to foreign 
Powers. 

VI. If we should succeed in conquering the 
people of the slave-holding States, it would compel 
us to keep them in a state of vassalage more humil- 
iating and degrading than that of their own slaves ; 
thereby converting our Government into a mon- 
archy; or a hybrid between a Republic and a 
Despotism. 

VII. It would be likely to make the condition 
of large numbers of the slaves worse than it is at 
present. 



26 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 

VIII. It would verify the statements and pre- 
dictions of those who opposed the Republican 
party. 



A PARABLE 

NOT FOUND IN ANY OP THE BOOKS OF THE OLD OR 
NEW TESTAMENT. 

March 3d, 1862. 

And it came to pass in the days of Elijah the 
Tishbite, that the sons of Reuben the Hittite took 
unto them wives and went into a far country and 
settled. 

And God prospered the sons of Reuben the Hit- 
tite, and blest the land wherein they dwelt; insomuch 
that they became a mighty Nation. 

When their fathers had gone the way of all the 
earth, the children of the sons of Reuben the Hit- 
tite said, " We are wiser than our fathers :" and they 
quarreled among themselves. 

And the Lord sent a great scourge upon them, 
which laid waste their fields and their cities, and 
destroyed many thousand lives. 

And the people being sorely smitten, said unto 
their rulers, "Can't you work for lower wages?" 

And the rulers said unto the people, "Go to, we 
love you dearly ; and we love our beautiful country, 
and glorious Government." 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYIKM. 2 7 

After many days, when the fat of the land had 
been consumed, and the sorrows and burdens of 
the people began to press heavily upon them, the 
people again said unto their rulers, " Can't you work 
for lower wages ? " 

And the rulers again said unto the people, " Go to, 
we love you dearly; and we love our beautiful 
country, and glorious Government.'' 



ANOTHER POLITICAL SERMON. 

March 12th. 1862. 

With the close of the civil war now raging in 
our country, we shall doubtless have turned over 
a new leaf in our National history. God grant 
that the record on the next page may be cleaner 
and purer than that on the last. 

As a Nation we have much to regret, as well as 
much to be proud of. We have cause to be proud 
of our origin ; of the wisdom, sagacity, and heroic 
deeds of our fathers ; of the beneficent Govern- 
ment which they framed ; of our unparalleled 
prosperity ; of the general intelligence of our 
people ; of the favored clime in which our lot 
has been cast ; but, alas ! we are not what we were. 

Love of money, and the desire to be " dressed 
in a little brief authority," being two of the 
strongest passions of human nature, I presume 
that in all countries where the people choose thier 



28 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 

rulers, there will be parties contending with each 
other for the privilege of managing the public 
affairs, and enjoying the money of the nation, 
vulgarly called the " spoils." 

History teaches us that the feuds and animosities 
engendered by this contention for power and pelf 
between large bodies of men, are the rocks upon 
which the ship of state, in a Republic, is most likely 
to split. It would seem, therefore, to be the part 
of wisdom and exalted statesmanship to endeavor 
to soften the asperities, and mitigate the evils, re- 
sulting from this incessant partisan warfare. Such 
appears to have been the view entertained by our 
most eminent statesmen, for, from the formation 
of the Government up to a recent period, whenever 
our gallant ship got into troubled waters, there 
were men on board who could " take her latitude " 
in the darkest weather, and pilot her safely through 
the impending danger. Two of the last and no- 
blest specimens of this class of men passed from 
among us about nine years ago ; having worn 
themselves out in helping to work the ship through 
one of the most fearful storms which she ever en- 
countered. The one had prayed that he might not 
live to see his country " rent with civil feuds and 
drenched in fraternal blood." God granted his 
prayer. The other was spared the pain of Beeing 
his beloved State made the held of deadly strife 
between his friends and neighbors. Peace to the 
ashes, and honor to the memory, of these departed 
patriots. We ne'er shall see their like again. 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISil. 20 

Scarcely had the earth time to settle, and the 
turf become green, over the graves of these men, 
when the demon of ^discord seems to have been 
let loose amongst us ; for, ever since, we have been 
snarling and] snapping* at each other like cats and 
dogs, until at j-last 'we^lhave got to shooting each 
other down by thousands. 

Parties, then, being inseparable from^a Republican 
Government, I would respectfully suggest that we 
endeavor to organize them hereafter on such prin- 
ciples as will not bring' into violent collision the 
Rights of Conscience in one half of the Nation, and 
the Rights of Property [in the other half. Upon 
these two great interests, mankind, in all ages 
and countries, ; has ever been extremely sensitive 
and tenacious. Men have suffered martyrdom 
rather than violate their] conscientious convictions ; 
likewise, they have died in resisting what they 
deemed encroachments upon their rights of prop- 
erty. The bloody and desolating wars between the 
Catholics and Protestants originated from causes 
somewhat similar to^those which have brought on 
our civil war. 

If I can get a second, I will propose that we 
try to form a party, having for its objects: 

First, The promotion of truth and justice, intel- 
ligence and virtue. 

Second, An amendment to our national Consti- 
tution which will make the President eligible by 
the votes of the peoj>le alone; limit the number 



30 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

of candidates for the Presidency at each electioi 
to two; and provide .for a choice of candidates a 
follows : 

About four or five months previous to th 
time of holding a Presidential election, let th 
people meet at their usual place of voting an* 
vote for their favorites; when these votes are al 
polled and canvassed throughout the Unite' 
States, let those two men representing opposin 
principles and parties, and having the highes 
number of votes in their favor, be the candidate 
for the Presidency ; and in like manner select fror 
the rest the candidates for the Vice Presidency 
This method of choosing candidates and electin 
a President would supersede the necessity of 
National Convention, wherein the people sometime! 
have no voice nor choice in selecting candidate; 
and prevent a recurrence of the dilemma and en 
barrassment resulting from the election of 
President by a minority of the people. 



^k. 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 31 

'HE PARTY SPIRIT IN THE NORTH MORE 
DIFFICULT TO SUBDUE THAN THE RE- 
BELLION IN THE SOUTH. 

April 7th, 1862, 
'o the Editor of the Chicago Evening Journal : 

Dear Sir : I sympathize with you in your " re- 
ret " that party spirit should continue so rampant 
rhile the nation is in such great peril and deep 
Erliction. Ever since it became apparent that a 
Elision of arms between the people of the two 
actions of our country was inevitable, I have ex- 
ited what little ability God has given me in 
•yiug to induce my countrymen to cease their 
arty bickering. Bat I am almost ready to give 
p in despair, being forced to the melancholy con* 
[usion that it will be far easier to conquer the 
Rebels of the South than to subdue the party spirit 
f the North. I can see no remedy for this great 
vil but in a miraculous interposition of Divine 
^rovidence. 

How strange that, while our brethren of all po- 
tal parties and creeds are in the field, fighting 
ide by side to suppress the Rebellion, and restore 
he Union, those who remain at home should per- 
ist in the manifestation of that spirit and feeling 
thich brought upon us our heavy calamities. 
Vhile one portion of our people are pouring out 
heir blood to extinguish the fire that is consuming 
is, another portion are equally sedulous in adding 



82 PATBIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 

fuel to the flames. While one man tells the people 
of the South that we do not wish to interfere with 
their slave property, another says that, " next to 
the labors of William Lloyd Garrison, he deems 
the labors of John Brown more valuable to the 
country than those of any other American ! " 



THE BALANCE OF POWER Itf A REPUBLIC. 

April 15th, 1862. 
There is probably no form of government in 
use among civilized nations wherein the tendency 
to rebellion, and the facilities for promoting it, are 
so great as in that of a Republic embracing a wide 
extent of territory divided into departments or 
States, each having its own local government, 
separate and distinct from that of the whole. For 
the convenience of illustration, the two great 
powers or forces of the social and political systems 
in a Republic of this character may be compared 
to those of the solar system; the State govern- 
ments representing the centrifugal, and the General 
government the centripetal 'power of the political 
system. In the social system, the centrifugal power 
may be said to reside in that large class of persons 
consisting of office-holders, office-seekers, politicians, 
and editors of political journals; those not in- 
cluded in this class may be supposed to constitute 
the centripetal power. The latter naturally inclines 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 33 

to a state of rest or tranquillity : the centrifugal 
delights in motion and excitement; hence, avails 
itself of every expedient and occasion to keep 
the centripetal stirred up. 

The centrifugal power may be subdivided into 
the u ins" and the ''outs." Between the "ins" 
and the "outs," on all subjects relating to political 
affairs, there has existed from time immemorial an 
inveterate antipathy. Whatever the "ins" may 
do or propose to do, the "outs" hardly ever fail 
to condemn and oppose it. Consequently, when- 
ever the political affairs of a confederate Republic 
are so managed as to throw the entire centrifugal 
power of a large section among the "outs," and 
there is a strong sympathy and community of in- 
terest between them and the entire centripetal 
power of the same section, a Rebellion and civil 
war will be likely to ensue. 



THE SLAVERY OF PARTY. 

May 28th, 1862. 
We have seen much, and heard more, of the evils 
of African slavery, as it exists in our country; but 
there is a slavery prevailing among us which, in 
my estimation, is almost, if not quite, as prejudicial 
to the best interests of the Nation, as the bondage 
of the black man. 



34 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

The latter is limited (at present) to about four 
millions of human beings, and confined to about 
one-fourth of the territory embraced in the Republic. 
The other is restricted to no lines of latitude or 
longitude; but extends from ocean to ocean, and 
from the Aroostook to the Rio Grande; from the 
pine forests of Maine and Minnesota, to the ever- 
glades of Florida, and the chapparal of Texas and 
Arizona. No class, no color, no station, is exempt 
from its influence. Its chains are felt alike by the 
occilpnnt of the White House, and the humble 
dweller in the log cabin of the far West. The 
manner in which it operates, and the effects which 
it produces, are various and multiform. It distorts 
the vision, contracts the view, warps the judgment, 
and makes the whole man one-sided. It has alien- 
ated friends, divided families, broken up churches, 
and torn society into fragments. It has set brother 
to warring against brother, son against father, and 
father against son. It has caused our public men 
to degenerate from a race of enlightened, liberal, 
courteous, and dignified Statesmen, into a race of 
quarrelsome politicians, and greedy spoilsmen. It 
has converted our halls of legislation into arenas 
for the exhibition of spleen, passion, and gladiato- 
rial combats. It has perverted our public journals 
from being — what they should be — the hand-maids 
of truth, justice, and intelligence, into vehicles of 
slander, abuse, and misrepresentation. It has impelled 
men to magnify the sins and errors of one-half their 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT FARTY1SM. 35 

countrymen, and wink at the iniquities and trans- 
gressions of the other half; to revile and traduce 
one class of their fellow-citizens, and pander to the 
passions and prejudices of another class. It has 
frequently excluded our best men from office, and 
put in our worst. It has withheld from a Webster 
and a Clay the honors which they earned so nobly, 
and bestowed them upon men who were greatly 
their inferiors. 

Its galling yoke must be worn, its humiliating 
requirements must be rigidly and vociferously com- 
plied with, by all who would exercise any influence 
in puulic affairs, or enjoy the slightest morsel of the 
"spoils." 

To the enslaved black man there may come a 
year of Jubilee ; for the victims of this other form 
of servitude there would seem to be no hope of 
relief but the Millennium. 

Reader, would you know the name of this species 
of slavery? It is the slavery of party ; and the 
bigotry of political opinion. 



36 PATRIOTISM WITHUUT PARTYISM. 

A NEW IDEA. 

May 12th, 1863. 
Eureka ! After long and anxious reflection, I 
have arrived at the conclusion that the best way 
to effect a permanent adjustment of our national 
difficulties, and re-establish our Government on a 
firm basis, would be to divide the people into two 
parties; make the number of each as nearly equal 
as possible in every State, Territory, County, and 
election precinct, throughout the Republic; assign 
to each party an equal share of office-holders, 
office-seekers, politicians, and editors of political 
journals; then make it the organic law of the 
Nation that no office in the Government, from that 
of President down to that of a Town Constable or 
country Squire, could be filled for two consecutive 
terms by a member of the same party. In other 
words, whenever any officeholder's term of office 
expired, let his successor be chosen from the opposite 
party. This would equalize the distribution of the 
"spoils;" moderate the rancor of party strife; and 
stimulate our public men to work for their country 
and the whole people, instead of a party. Who 
will help to set this ball in motion, and thereby 
hasten the political Millennium? 



~^S$5tS?^ 



PATK10TISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 37 

ANOTHER APPEAL FOR UNANIMITY. 

July 30th, 1862. 

It has been affirmed by one whose judgment and 
patriotism are entitled to high respect, that the 
Union, if restored at all, must be restored as it was. 
To restore the Union as it was in the palmy days 
of the Republic, when our Senators and members 
of Congress could discuss questions ot public policy 
and express their differences of opinion and feeling 
in a manner befitting their high position, and the 
great interests entrusted to their charge, " would 
be a consummation devoutly to be wished ; " to effect 
which, the little that remains of one poor life would 
be willingly sacrificed. 

But to restore the anion as it was, we must "make 
that not to be which has been." We must call back 
the departed spirits, reanimate the lifeless forms, of 
those who have fallen in this demoniac strife. 

We must replace the amputated limbs, and repair 
the shattered frames, of its living victims ; silence 
the wail of widows and orphans, the shrieks and 
groans of the wounded and dying; and root out 
from the hearts of a maddened people the bitter 
hate, the fiendish malice, begotten by this inhuman 
conflict. Without the power to perform these mir- 
acles, it were vain to talk of restoring the Union 
as it was. We might almost as well think of re- 
storing the entombed cities of Herculaneum and 
Pompeii as they were. 






38 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

Scarcely more feasible, in my view, Jwould be 
the attempt to separate, and form ourselves into 
distinct Nationalities. For, God and Nature have so 
arranged our country — at least that portion which 
lies east of the Rocky Mountains — that it would 
seem to be our manifest destiny to live together as 
one people, whether our Government be a Republic, 
a Monarchy, or a Despotism. 

What, then, shall we do to suppress the eruption 
from this volcano of human passion which is deso- 
1-iting our fair land? How shall we extricate our- 
selves from the mad vortex in which we are plunged; 
and escape the still lower depth to which we are- 
tending? How shall we bring back the halcyon 
days of peace ? 

Muzzle the Abolitionists, says one. Many of us 
have been trying to do this for years ; but the more 
we try to muzzle them the more clamorous they 
become. Like the ghost of Banquo, they will not 
down at our bidding. 

Abolish slavery, says another. Abolish slavery ! 
Undo the work of two centuries ! Annihilate an 
institution that existed in our country before we 
were born as a nation ; which had fixed itself so 
deeply and firmly as to baffle the efforts of the 
framers of our Government to place it in course of 
extinction; which has grown with our growth, 
and strengthened with our strength! Make a 
sudden and radical change in the life-long social 
relations and relative position between ten millions 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 39 

of people on the one hand, and four millions on 
the other ! Convert men into a belief that that is 
not property which they have been accustomed all 
their lives to regard as property ! Eradicate the 
combined influence of education, habit, and pecuniary 
interest! Strike the shackles from four millions 
of Africans diffused over an area of more than 
700,000 square miles, while ten millions of Anglo 
Saxons are determined to keep them on! Suddenly 
elevate four millions of men, women and children 
from a state of the most abject dependence and 
degradation, to a position of self-reliance and free- 
dom from restraint, for which they have not had 
the slightest preparation ! 

Countrymen! let us not imitate the folly and 
madness of the Rebels. Let us not lose all by 
attempting too much. Slavery is dying quite as 
fast as we are prepared to have it die. Let us not 
be so eager to hasten its death as to destroy our- 
selves with it. 

Again the great question recurs, what shall we 
do to be saved? How shall we re-unite a divided 
people? How shall we re-establish law and order 
where anarchy reigns supreme ; and avoid the dire 
necessity of erecting a military Despotism over 
the ruins of nearly half the Republic? In the 
language of the immortal Webster, how shall we 
reconstruct the fabric of demolished Government ? 
These are the momentous questions — "big with 
the fate of empire" — which present themselves 



40 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAETYISM. 

for our consideration. Who can answer them? I 
will not make the attempt with my weak brain 
and limited attainments. 

There are a few suggestions, however, which I 
will venture to express. They whom we are 
fighting are united by the cohesive power of a 
common interest, and energized by the hope of in- 
dependence. We are not united, but have our 
energies weakened, and afford aid and comfort to 
the Rebels by our differences and dissensions as to 
what caused the war ; how it should be conducted; 
and how the Government should be administered. 
They are consolidated. We are divided into Con- 
servatives, Republicans, Democrats, and Abolitionists: 
each faction or party seeking to have the Rebellion 
suppressed and the unity of the Nation restored in 
accordance with its own peculiar views and wishes. 
If it be true that in union there is strength, then 
the Rebels possess one very important element of 
success which we lack. 

Americans! descendants of patriot sires ! lovers 
of freedom ! friends of the Union ! if we would 
speedily crush the Monster which has risen up to 
blast the goodly work of our fathers ; if we would 
preserve what cost them so much to achieve ; if we 
would perpetuate the xVmerican Republic ; if we 
womld carry our Government triumphantly through 
the severe ordeal which has come upon it, and 
make the great heart of humanity, of civilization, 
and of progress, beat with a quicker pulse; we 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 41 

must relinquish our partisan views, prejudices 
and predilections ; bury the animosities of party ; 
throw overboard our platforms; and work together 
for our country's good on the broad level of 
patriotism ; in the spirit of conciliation, concession 
and compromise. What ! compromise with Traitors 
and Rebels ? By no means. Compromise with 
ourselves, with each other, and with the loyal 
people of the South. Emulate the spirit, and heed 
the dying admonition, of the departed Douglas. 
"Sacrifice party upon the altar of country." If 
we do this, if we will but adopt this spirit and 
policy, I think I can assure you that our noble 
ship of state, which has been so long on her beam 
ends, will right up once more ; her sails again fill, 
her broad pennant stream out, and be hailed with 
joy by every lover of freedom throughout the civ- 
ilized world. 

But if all parties factions and persist in clinging 
to their respective platforms, and insist upon carry- 
ing out their peculiar views and principles; if we 
continue to feed and inflame each other's passions 
and prejudices; to wrangle and bicker, abuse and 
misrepresent each other; to irritate, provoke, exas- 
perate, and "pitch into" one another, as we have 
been doing for years past; if we have such an 
itching for notoriety, and cheap distinction, that 
we cannot refrain from giving utterance to lan- 
guage and sentiments that shock the nerves and 
wound the sensibilities of the nation ; if we con- 



42 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAPvTYISM. 

tinue to be impatient at the slow progress of the 
world, and over zealous to make it move faster' 
I fear the war will continue until the Republic 
shall have crumbled into chaos. 

Then, tyrants will rejoice and their subjects weep. 
Then, "Freedom will shriek, and Hope, for a season, 
bid the world farewell." Then, " bitterer tears will 
flow than were ever shed over the remains of 
Grecian or of Roman art," for we shall have de- 
stroyed "a more glorious edifice than Greece or 
Rome ever saw." Then, the Genius of Liberty 
which accompanied our fathers across the ocean, | 
and cheered and sustained them under their pri- 
privations and toils, will drop a tear over the 
tombs of her beloved Washington and his com- 
patriots, and flee to the Alpine peaks and more 
congenial atmosphere of the land of William Tell. 

But let us hope for better things. Let us work 
and pray for the regeneration of our afflicted 
country; and endeavor to hasten the advent of 
that auspicious era, when men can be free with- 
out being licentious ; and when the proud bird 
of our national ensign, like the fabled Phoenix, risen 
from its own ashes, with eye un dimmed, and plu- 
mage unsoiled, shall again spread his protecting | 
pinions over a peaceful, united, prosperous, and 
happy people. 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 43 

To Ron. Horace Greeley] Ed. N. Y. Tribune : 

August 26th, 1862. 
Dear Sir : Presuming that I am one of the twenty 
millions of people whom you assumed to represent 
in the prayer which you recently offered up in their 
behalf, I wish, respectfully and briefly, to set forth 
my reasons for declining to say amen. 

I. In my judgment, it lacks two of the most 
essential ingredients of a good prayer ; viz : humility 
and faith. 

II. I think it violates that commandment which 
says: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
neighbor." 

III. It seems to partake of the leaven of the 
Pharisees; who uttered long prayers in the syna- 
gogue, and at the street corners, that they might be 
seen and heard of men. 

IV. It breathes not the spirit of charity ; without 
which, the apostle Paul assures us, we are " as 
sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." 

V. You appear to forget that our Government 
is a Republic ; that the President is not invested with 
unlimited powers ; and that the people of the loyal 
States do not all look from the same stand-point ; 
nor hate the Rebels and their peculiar institution 
with the same decree of intensity. 

VI. I am one "of those who triumphed in the 
election " of our present Chief Magistrate ; and 
" desire the unqualified suppression of the Rebellion 
now desolating our country." But I am not one of 



44 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

those who "are sorely disappointed and deeply 
pained by the policy he seems to be pursuing with 
regard to the slaves of Rebels." He has not yet 
forfeited my confidence, nor my respect. Though 
I think he has committed errors — among which 
is the reply to your " prayer " — nevertheless, I will 
not forsake him, nor judge harshly of his motives; 
but, so far as I have the ability, will endeavor to 
strengthen his hand, encourage his heart, and aid 
him to discharge the momentous duties and respon- 
sibilities which devolve upon him in this dark hour 
of national woe and peril. 



A CHANGE OF POLICY AND OF STRATEGY 
PROPOSED. 

September 18th, 1862. 
To the loyal people of the American Union: 

Brethren : I address you in behalf of an agonized 
Republic and a distressed Nation. " Hear me for my 
cause.' ' 

For nearly eighteen months we have been waging 
a conflict that has sent probably three hundred thou- 
sand of our fellow-citizens into eternity; diseased, 
demoralized, mutilated and crippled a number equally 
large ; carried grief and mourning into many a house- 
hold; devastated large districts of our country; and 
impoverished the nation to an extent that is fright- 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PAKTYISM. 45 

ful to contemplate. Notwithstanding these vast 
sacrifices and severe afflictions, this copious "blood- 
letting," and this enormous depletion of our finances; 
and notwithstanding that we have greatly the ad- 
vantage of our foes, not only in the righteousness 
of our cause, but also in numbers and resources; with 
every inlet and outlet of their coast guarded by a 
Navy that has no"superior, and but few equals; with 
seven hundred thousand men in the field, of the best 
blood of the Anglo Saxon race ; well paid, well fed, 
well clothed, and well armed with the most improved 
implements of death ; and abundantly supplied with 
the best munitions of war the world affords; after 
nearly eighteen month's fighting, the rebellion still 
rears its Gorgon head more defiantly than ever. 

What, and where, is the malign influence that mars 
our success, and impedes our progres? Is it the 
"border State eunuchs ? "* Then let them "slide," 
and make way for men that are not emasculated. 
Has the President " not a spark of genius, and no 
enthusiasm ? " * Let him resign and his place be 
filled by a man of larger calibre, and more mettle. 
Are our Generals incompetent, and unfit for their 
stations? Dismiss them and try others. But my 
purpose is not to find fault, nor cast reproach. This 
would be emphatically a work of supererogation. 
My object is higher, and holier. I have a change 

* These expressions are quoted from an editorial article which 
appeared in the New York Independent. 



46 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

of policy and of strategy to propose, by which I 
think we can conquer. It is peaceful and humane. 
It will receive the favor of Heaven, and command 
the sympathy of the good and true. It will be twice 
blessed — blessing him that gives, and him that takes. 
It is easy of execution. The only serious impediment 
to be overcome is prejudice. Who will not conquer 
his prejudices to save his country? Mine are con- 
quered, and they were strong. Hitherto, so far as 
slavery was aifected by this contest, I have been 
more conservative than otherwise. Not because I 
did not think slavery a great social, moral, and po- 
litical evil ; not because I sympathized with Traitors ; 
but r because I was anxious to avert and mitigate 
the horrors of war. But conservative ground is 
fast disappearing beneath the bloody waves of this 
devilish strife. Its angry billows are fast closing in 
upon me, and I must prepare to meet them. I must 
take a more decided stand either in favor of the in- 
terests of Freedom, or in favor of the interests of 
Slavery. Distasteful as it may be, I must draw 
nearer to the Abolitionists of the North, or nearer 
to the Traitors of the South. The decision is made # 
I have chosen the former alternative. Every instinct 
of my nature, and every impulse of my heart, are 
loyal to Freedom. I see clearly that, henceforward, 
the American Republic or its bastard offspring must 
be the ruling power ot this great Nation. The con- 
stitutional rights of slavery and of slave-holders, in 
my view, are growing beautifully less. The obli- 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 4 T 

gations that once bound me, bind me no longer. 
They have raised their parricidal hands to destroy 
the glorious fabric which my forefathers aided to 
rear. By the help of God they shall not succeed in 
their diabolical design. I see that Freedom or Slavery 
must die. They are having their last grapple. Free- 
dom must triumph. 

" The eternal years of God are hers." 

People of the non-slaveholdiug States, and soldiers 
of the Federal army! whenever you grow tired of 
this "unnatural and unnecessary" war, and wish to 
see it brought to a speedy conclusion, just conquer 
your prejudices, and say to the bondmen and bond- 
women of the Kebels, " Come ye over the border." 

Fear not that they will become our equals, or that 
we will become their equals. "Can the leopard change 
his spots, or the Ethiopian his skin?" "Who would 
not rather see these degraded and oppressed Africans 
diffused over the free States of the Xorth, than see 
the Rebels triumphant and our Government over- 
thrown ? Besides, they can be deported and colonized 
just as well from the free States as from the slave 
States. 

" Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish," let 
us not ingloriously fritter out our national existence ; 
but if we must die, let us die speedily, and gloriously 
defending the sacred trust committed to our keeping 
by the sages and heroes who founded the American 
Republic! Vive la Liberie! ! 



48 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

" The combat deepens. On ! ye brave, 
Who rush to Freedom, or the grave." 

"Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just." 
Watchman, what of the night ? Pilot, how do you 
head? 



ON THE PROCLAMATION. 

October 9th, 1862. 

By announcing that he will proclaim freedom to 
the slaves of all slave-holders who shall be in rebellion 
against the Government on the first of January next, 
our President seems to have made himself the subject 
alike of unmeasured obloquy and fulsome panegyric. 
I am not prepard to participate in either of these 
" demonstrations." The sovereign power of this Nation 
resides in the people, and the President, in the position 
which he at present holds, is merely an agent em- 
ployed by the people, for a limited period, to perform 
the functions pertaining to one branch of the Govern- 
ment, of whioh he is but an individual member. 

We commenced our national existence with two 
conflicting elements incorporated in our social and 
political fabric. Whatever may have been the im- 
mediate cause of our troubles, or whoever may be 
to blame, the antagonism between these elements 
has been made to culminate in civil war ; one part 
of the nation having rebelled, and the other part 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT FARTY1SM. 49 

being obliged to resist the rebellion. la the course 
of the struggle, a seeming majority of the people 
who have remained loyal to the Government — or at 
least a majority of those who are loyal to the present 
administration of the Government — have informally 
signified that they wish the President to do what in 
their opinion he has a clear right to do, and what they 
think will greatly facilitate and expedite the crush- 
ing of the Ilebellion. Having given the subject 
due consideration, the President announces that if 
the rebellion be not subdued within a specified time 
he will accede to their wishes; which, in my judg- 
ment, makes him neither a demi-god nor a demon. 

If the President were possessed of Almighty power, 
he could free the slaves in the same manner that God 
sent light into the world; but being a mere mortal, 
like the rest of us, he may say, " let the slaves be 
free'' as often as the Muezzin exclaims that Mahomet 
is the Prophet of the Lord ; yet, unless the mandate 
be properly sustained and executed by the people, 
it were better addressed to the slaves of Brazil. 



To the Editor of the Chicago Evening Journal : 

October 17th, 1862. 

In the editorial columns of the Chicago Tribune, 
of October loth, the following statement appeared: 

" The Tories profess to be terribly shocked that any contra- 
bands should come into this State. But we notice that wherever 
a, Tory can pick up a nigger he does so. The Republicans gen- 
erally will have nothing to do with theas." 



50 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

For the credit of humanity, and especially that 
class of humanity called Republicans, I fervently 
hope they will not let their political opponents outdo 
them in benevolence to the poor escaped slave. 



THE CONFLICTING ELEMENTS IN OUR 
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FABRIC. 

Novemher 30th, 1862. 

The founders of this Republic were, perhaps, the 
wisest statesmen, the purest patriots, and the most 
unselfish body of men the world has produced. But 
they were human, and had to contend with difficulties 
that were above and beyond the control of human 
agency. They had to frame a Government for a peo- 
ple in whose social fabric were interwoven discordant 
and conflicting elements, tending in opposite direc- 
tions, and producing antagonistic influences. The 
one tending to universal freedom, social and political; 
liberty of speech ond of the press; and the general 
diffusion of knowledge among all classes and condi- 
tions. The other tending to an aristocratic state of 
society, and a monarchical form of Government ; an 
abridgement of the freedom of speech and of the 
press; and the formation ef classes with exclusive 
rights and privileges. 

I think that a careful reading of our national Con- 
stitution, together with the discussions that were 
held upon certain of its provisions while it was being 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 51 

framed, will convince any impartial and disinterested 
person that the extinction of one of these elements 
was confidently anticipated by a majority of its 
framers ; and that the instrument was framed with 
a view to this end. But owing to causes not then 
developed or foreseen, this element has not become 
extinct ; but, on the contrary, has increased in vitality 
and power to such an extent that it threatens to ex- 
tinguish the other element. 

Arouse ye, then, my countrymen, and prepare for 
the great work before you. Let us make this the 
model Republic for future ages, and oppressed hu- 
manity in all climes. 



HOW, AND WHEN, OUR TROUBLES 
WILL END. 

December 12th, 1862. 

How, and when, will our civil war terminate ? 
is the great problem which is now attracting the 
attention of the civilized world. 

Though neither sage nor prophet, nor the son of 
a prophet, I will nevertheless attempt to furnish a 
basis on which some vague opinion may be formed 
with regard to the probable duration of our national 
troubles. The people of the United States are di- 
vided into four great classes, or contending parties ; 
one of which is distinguished by the name of Rebels ; 
a large proportion of whom are armed with deadly 



52 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

weapons, and fighting — they say — to maintain their 
rights, and achieve national independence. Arrayed 
against these is another party, about equal in number 
and equally well supplied with the means of destruc_ 
tion, who are fighting to conquer the Rebels, and re. 
subject them to the authority of that Government 
which they are seeking to overthrow. 

The other two classes — more bellicose than bellig- 
erent — profess to have a common aim; to wit: the 
sustaining of the Government ; yet quarrel incessantly 
about the manner of sustaining it. In tenacity of 
purpose, vigor and venom, these combatants are not 
excelled by their more daring brethren upon the 
battle field. Their weapons are mainly the tongue 
and pen. Their mode of warfare partakes largely 
of the Guerrilla; such as discharging shots from 
masked batteries, firing under cover, shooting poi- 
soned arrows, and making raids upon the defenseless. 

Now, whoever can compute the length of time, 
and the amount of suffering and slaughter that will 
be necessary to bring these contending parties into 
such a condition that their various conflicting opinions, 
interests, and passions, may be reconciled and har 
monized ; or tell when either of them shall have 
become strong enough to subdue the others, and hold 
them in permanent subjection, can tell how and when 
our civil war will be brought to a close. 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 53 

THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISUNION. 

January 8th, 1863. 

About forty years ago, our Government deemed it 
proper to announce what has been termed " The Monroe 
doctrine j" one sentence of which reads as follows: "We 
owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable rela- 
tions existing between the United States and the Powers 
of Europe, to declare that we should consider any at- 
tempt on their part to extend their system to any portion 
of this hemisphere, as dangerous to our peace and 
safety." 

Soon after the flames of civil war 'had burst forth 
among our people, the Governments of England , France 
and Spain, discovered that their interests in Mexico 
could not be suitably cared for without resorting to 
the diplomacy of the sword. Influenced, probably, 
by the consideration that in union there is strength, 
or perhaps from motives of political economy, these 
three Powers appear to have formed an alliance for 
the purpose of mutually assisting each other in the 
prosecution of their respective claims against the Mex- 
ican Government. Accordingly, a fleet, adequate to 
the emergency, was conjointly fitted out by them, 
and dispatched to the waters of Mexico. The unsus- 
pecting Mexicans not having been duly advised of 
their coming, were not prepared to receive their dis- 
tinguished visitors in a manner befitting the occasion. 
Suffice it to say, the Allied Powers effected a landing 
without having to overcome any very formidable 



54 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

resistance. Hardly were the troops disembarked, 
however, when England and Spain apparently aban- 
doned the enterprise, and withdrew their forces. What 
impelled these two nations to do an act so unheard 
of in the annals of war ; whether Mexico promptly 
redressed their grievances; whether they found that 
the end would not justify the means; whether they 
conld not co-operate in harmony with the Emperor 
of the French ; or whether they got ashamed of the 
work in which they were engaged, has not been made 
known to the world. Whatever the motive may have 
been, these two Powers appear to have receded from 
all active participation in the pending conquest of 
Mexico. Not so Napoleon. He continues to push 
his aggressions with renewed vigor; and, if our public 
j ournals tell the truth, draws largely upon the resources 
of this country for the ways and means to carry out 
his designs. We are also informed — through the 
same channel — that the Government of Mexico, 
through its representative at Washington, has com- 
plained to our Government that w~e are not acting 
with due regard to the principles of international 
comity; in brief, that we are not doing unto Mexico 
as w r c wish others to do unto us. In what spirit this 
remonstrance from the Mexican Government has been 
received, and what influence it may have on the future 
action of our Government and people, we have yet 
to learn. 

Is there not reason to apprehend that this Nation 
has fallen from the proud position which it once as- 



PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PABTYISM. 55 

sumed so fearlersly, and maintained so firmly? Are 
we deterred from dealing justly with a sister Re- 
public because she is weak and her adversary is 
strong? Is the gold of the French Autocrat so 
tempting that we must gratify our cupidity at the 
expense of the Nation's dignity and honor? 

He that crushed the budding hope of his own 
country, and placed his iron heel upon the Genius of 
French Liberty, is now driving his blood-stained 
car over the land of the free; and, sad to relate, we 
seem to have become his passive instruments. 



A QUERY PROPOUNDED. 

January 20th, 1863- 
President Lincoln has given freedom to about three 
million slaves in the revolted States. A large propor- 
tion of the citizens of the loyal States, declare that 
these emancipated Africans shall not come into their 
presence. 

Query : If we compel the people of the South to live 
among freed slaves, and refuse to let freed slaves live 
among us, will not this be a despotic exercise of 
power ? 



<M 



56 PATRIOTISM WITHOUT PARTYISM. 

February 5th, 1863. 

In my opinion, the attempt to enlist, arm and equip, 
three hundred thousand negroes, and use them as sol- 
diers on the field of battle in righting the Rebels, as 
is proposed in the bill now being discussed by Con- 
gress, will tend to demoralize the Army, sink the 
Nation deeper in the vortex of anarchy, and disparage 
our claims to the respect and sympathy of foreign 
Governments. 

If the officers of our army are invested with ample 
authority to employ negroes in any capacity which, 
in their judgment, will best subserve the cause in 
which we are engaged, where is the necessity for 
proposing and discussing this measure? 



February 12th, 1863. 
Ours being a Government of the people, deriving 
,'ts power from the consent and cheerful acquiescence 
of the governed, if I were asked for advice with 
regard to the general management of our public 
affairs during the fearful crisis through which the 
Nation is passing, I would say in reply, Strive to 
pursue that policy, civil and military, which is best 
calculated to secure the support of a majority of the 
people, and meet the approbation of the civilized 
world. 



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